Bethalto man claims building official’s instruction cost him $18K

City says claim is up to insurance company

By Katelyn Petrin - For the Telegraph

Chris Carter stands inside the house at 731 Dugger in Bethalto. He claims faulty instructions from a former building and zoning administrator made the property inhabitable, costing him at least $18,000. The administrator now faces multiple charges, including falsifying permits.

BETHALTO — A Bethalto resident who says he faces mounting debt because of faulty instructions from a former building and zoning administrator is wondering where next to turn.

Earlier this week, Chris Carter asked the village board for $18,315 to reimburse him for a two-year renovation project that has been deemed structurally unsound.

“I feel like it should be the village’s claim, not my claim,” he told the board.

However, Bethalto Mayor Alan Winslow said that the village cannot file a claim because, “We don’t have a loss here.” Any decisions made about Carter’s reimbursement would have to be between him and the insurance company.

Carter called himself “a victim” of Richard Mersinger, a former building and zoning administrator who was indicted last month on charges that included falsifying permits.

“I have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this building that I know, ultimately, is going to end up in four or five dumpsters,” Carter said.

In November of 2014, Carter purchased a lot and a building next to his home on Dugger Street.

He had big plans — fix it up, rent it out, make some money.

Carter said Mersinger instructed him to fill a crawlspace with multiple tons of rock to serve as a foundation, which isn’t up to Illinois building code.

By Carter’s account, Mersinger came to the building seven or eight times and filed paperwork for inspections that didn’t happen.

Because the building is legally uninhabitable, Carter says he ended up with a “$55,000 shed” that may cost another $6,000 to demolish.

Carter estimates that he spent between 1,600 and 2,000 hours on stabilizing the structure, fixing the roof and building a floor.

“When you purchase a house, you buy it as is,” he said. “We bought it that way, and that’s fine. But the first step is to go to the city and get a professional in here to inspect — to make sure that everything is safe and inhabitable to build on.”

Neither Mersinger or his attorney immediately responded to The Telegraph’s request for comment.

An IMLRMA representative said that investigators were still collecting documents from several people involved, and that they couldn’t comment on the details of the investigation.

Carter, in the meantime, lives next door to his ill-fated purchase and calls his insurance contacts often, awaiting the decision that might help him make up for some of his losses.

“I get looks from my wife every single day, and I don’t know what to tell her,” Carter said.

Chris Carter stands inside the house at 731 Dugger in Bethalto. He claims faulty instructions from a former building and zoning administrator made the property inhabitable, costing him at least $18,000. The administrator now faces multiple charges, including falsifying permits.

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_ZoningIssuesBethalto.jpgChris Carter stands inside the house at 731 Dugger in Bethalto. He claims faulty instructions from a former building and zoning administrator made the property inhabitable, costing him at least $18,000. The administrator now faces multiple charges, including falsifying permits.